Bazzite 3.0: updated gaming Linux OS polishes support for Steam Deck OLED, Legion GO, Asus ROG Ally among other handhelds

Bazzite Linux is a customised Fedora Atomic Desktop image that aims to replace Windows as a go-to gaming-centric operating system. The release of Bazzite 3.0 improves support for a bunch of handhelds and adds significant updates to the software experience itself.

For starters, Bazzite 3.0 sees a shift to Fedora 40 and Linux Kernel version 6.8, which should bring a host of updates, including better scheduling, power management, and performance on new CPUs, like Intel's Core Ultra series, and GPUs, like Intel Arc iGPUs. It also improves support for a number of new game controllers and other gaming hardware, including the Steam Deck and Deck OLED.

Along with the kernel update, there are new Nvidia and AMD drivers to improve gaming performance and take advantage of new features, like the upcoming Wayland explicit sync protocol for Nvidia GPUs, which was recently also added to System76's Cosmic DE.

Bazzite 3.0 also now ships by default with KDE Plasma 6 and Gnome 46, bringing the image up to snuff with the latest and greatest desktop environments and enabling features like tearing on the desktop and HDR support for games. It also drops support for X11 on anything but the Nvidia images, likely partially in search of support for HDR and better fractional scaling.

There are also a number of patches and updates to the included software in Bazzite 3.0, which ships by default with Steam, Lutris, and Discord pre-installed, while tools like Decky Loader, EmuDeck, RetroDECK, and ProtonUp-Qt are optional to install at setup.

On the hardware side of things, the Bazzite 3.0 changelog specifically calls out better support for the Lenovo Legion Go (curr. $649.99 from Lenovo US) and Asus ROG Ally (curr. $699.99 on Best Buy). The handheld daemon and overlay in Bazzite 3.0 now have TDP configuration and controller emulation settings built-in for on-the-fly adjustments without having to resort to the SteamUI via Decky.

Bazzite 3.0 also partially addresses the Steam Deck OLED, which was previously entirely incompatible with the OS. Bazzite 3.0 will now install and run on the Steam Deck OLED, although it seems like it's an experience littered with bugs and issues. The developers promise to resolve those issues soon in an upcoming update. So far, though, HDR on the Steam Deck OLED is reportedly mostly functional, with a few games not working with HDR on Bazzite.

In addition to the Steam Deck OLED and the aforementioned Lenovo and Asus handhelds, Bazzite 3.0 is now fully supported on the Ayn Loki Zero and Ayn Loki Max, while the Onexplayer X1 is partially supported, with full support also on the way soon.